Day Sixty-six: evening of October 7th 2009

Completed the poster for the Halloween Dance, and am awaiting any adjustments.

The ease of making changes on a digital document is both a boon and a curse. On the one hand, you can make changes at the last minute. This is very helpful if there has been a breakdown in proof reading, and a serious flaw rears its ugly head. On the other hand, the curse lies in the fact that you can make changes at the last minute. I don’t know how many times I or my wife have been contacted by individuals, we were working with, asking if a change can be made. Well as long as the job isn’t being processed by printer, a change can be made. Of course, it takes time, which might generate increased pressure to finish on time. We ,both, have had any number of similar situations. I remember going to bed at 3 am as my wife finishes up a project due the next day in the morning, or sitting in a Kinko’s at 2 am waiting for the pages of the student newspaper to print . I thought it was both fun and tiring at the same times.

So, when you use or work with technology, you have to realize that there is this two edged quality. You play a video game, you’re drawn into the adventure, losing all sense of time, and enjoying the experience. But don’t be surprised when you discover that you’re cutting corners in order to just get to an appointment (if not being late). Or you say to a friend, “Sure, I can make that change,” and then curse yourself for doing it, when you realize you won’t getting to bed on time before that important event scheduled for the next morning. As my West Coast friends would say, “Bummer, dude.”